Lunch Lady Jan's Fabric Frenzy

For Fun and Friendship

Wednesday, 7 December 2016

It's December, so my favourite carols and Christmas music will feature! This one from Voctave is a recent discovery, but oh my, I do love it. The top soprano is amazing.

So, the desk....

Snowman fabric is being cut up for a couple more dog bandanas, it's going to be teamed with that stripey one. A bright and breezy combo!

There they are, for someone to give out to doggy friends :-D I do like making these!

And these are the ingredients for my next project for a little something for myself, but I haven't got any further than this! Watch this space...but some bunting and writing my Christmas cards may have to take precedence.

The Christmassy feeling started last week for me, not only playing with band but this too:

A little room in the primary school where I used to work which my friend asked me to turn into a grotto for their fair...blimey, I spent some hours in here with kids when I was a TA! Anyway, the first thing was to cover up all the cupboards, resources and general detritus. Luckily I have enough white sheets which get reused for this sort of thing!

And of course you have to change the whiteboard into a festive window - that fabric you gave me from your Mum's worked a treat as some curtains Julia! I added a window frame and Star of Bethlehem after I took this.

And I made a string of bunting to hang up but also cheated like crazy. The door was easy to cover with a roll of backing paper, staple gun and white sparkly tinsel but the stocking was bought from The Range for £1 - you couldn't make it for that! It was about 18" tall as well. I couldn't really take an overview of the room, it's too small but apparently the children enjoyed seeing Father Christmas the following night!

Ok, must crack on with my cards if I'm to beat the last overseas posting date. Have a great week everyone!

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

And I do! It amazes me that lovely deskers are willing to drive such long distances to come and eat cake and chat basically! It was so lovely to meet a few new faces as well as welcoming old favourites :-D

The whole day was wonderful - it was great catching up with everyone. Especial welcome to Kathy K, Margaret (Glitter and Glue) and Erika whose first meeting it was. There are a whole load more pics on my previous post...click here if you want to see them.

Because such a lot of time was taken up cooking (!) I haven't been that prolific when it comes to crafting. I needed to make one more doggy bandana for Reg, a labrador:

And so you find me cutting out yet more Christmassy fabric. There's a mug of ginger tea, my mobile cos I'd just texted a friend and the feather stamped images that Helen did for me at the Crop. My sewing machine had been dumped there because I had to clear the dining room table in order to feed my guests!

I wonder if Reg will like this combo?! Lol.

I'm constructing a grotto today in the school where I used to work and decided to run up a quick string of bunting...

I'm just cutting the triangles out with pinking shears and am not going to line them - it's just to hang up in the room where Santa and his Elf helper will see the little ones. That's a quick job to do this morning before I head off.

Margaret (Glitter and Glue) came for tea on Friday evening and brought me this gorgeous little cottage with a battery tea light inside - it's so sweet!

I haven't fixed the ridge tiles back down but you get the idea - thanks Margaret, I love it!

Hope you're all keeping safe and warm in this very chilly snap, it was -5 this morning!

Have a great week :-D xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sunday, 27 November 2016

I think there were times in this very tough year that neither Julia or myself thought a crop would happen. But we managed to get a new venue and a date and it all happened yesterday - many familiar faces, a few new and the same wonderful feeling of friendship :-)

The new hall worked well, it was lovely and warm and there was plenty of space to spread out - just like Hamish did (he's the huge and gorgeous dog that belongs to Morti and family)

Helen was looking amazing! She really rocked those long suede boots :-D

This man rocks! Doug (hubby of Shaz Silverwolf) worked non stop all day, helping to set up, clean tables, cake waiter and general factotum. THANK YOU Doug, you were such a support xxxxxxx

The gorgeous Shaz Silverwolf used the time to put inserts into all her Christmas cards and pair them up with matching envelopes....

Helen was colouring her stamped images (She bought a suitcase full of stuff again!)

And Margaret (Glitter and Glue) drove all the way from North Wales - it was so wonderful to meet her in person after knowing her (virtually) for quite a while!

Margaret's crafting pile.....

And here's one of the new faces (well, the top half anyway!) Kathy K joined us for the first time - what a lovely lady she is and very funny too :-D

She soon managed to cover up the table with stash!

Kyla was looking wonderful - it was great to catch up again. She and Peter (Bishopmate's hubby) look as if they're cracking jokes!

And speaking of Bishopmate, it was great to see her again too!

Erika was a new face but she already knew Shaz off a stamping website but used to be Julia's neighbour years ago - it's a small world sometimes! Erika brought an even bigger case and trolley than Helen and was soon in full flow :-)

The cutting/embossing/die table was in use all day....

Fiona (Queen of the Lemon Drizzle cake!!) was making some really gorgeous origami items using her Stamping Up stuff.....

Dolores, Julia and Mary Anne deep in conversation.....

Livvy was doing the most exquisite cross stitch of a bee with Celtic knotwork. She gets more beautiful each time we meet.....

I love these guys.....

Morti was looking good too - lovely lady :-)

Dolores was making these yoyo puffs with a very clever ring gadget (it's blue, you can just see it in front of her) Mary Anne made commemorative hanging stars for everyone.

Here it is together with ATCs from Dolores, Erika and Christine - thanks girls!

Lovely pic of Dolores - she'd bought lots of fabric for me to have a good rummage through!

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

This song takes me back, it was a big hit in the UK a few years ago and when I hear it, I go straight back to when my boys were about 8 and 11, bouncing like loons around the room cos they loved it so much! Sigh...happy days....

Anyway, it came to mind as I was in a ....wait for it.....fabric shop a couple of days ago. What me? After I said about clearing my stash...cough. But I had a reason, honest! I'd been commissioned to make a tote bag for someone to give as a Christmas prezzy and it had been specified that the pattern had to be cherries! And I didn't have any cherry prints so I HAD to go searching for some.

Don't you find that when you're looking for something specific, it never turns up? Well, the sewing gods must have been on my side because in the very first shop I found this...

Ha, the perfect print! And there was a spotty fabric that was, well, spot on for the lining!

Well I like it! I only hope the recipient does too :-D

And while I was in the fabric shop, I looked up and saw this:

The thickest, most luxurious furnishing fabric you ever did see! I fell in love with it and thought it would make an awesome messenger type bag for my future DiL, whose birthday is fast approaching. It was figured cotton velveteen, £25 per metre (!!) so I bought half and cut very carefully. It had amazing selvedges which I was loath to throw away...so I didn't.

I zigzagged them onto the patch pocket for the front. And unusually for me, all seams were on show and I didn't even do lining because the reverse of the fabric was as gorgeous as the front. In fact, that pocket has the reverse facing out as it made it slightly different from the rest of the bag.

I even sewed the handle up with the seam on the outside which I then positioned in the middle and topstitched the edges to keep it in place. It looked rather like a dragon's back.

Et voila - I know it's only a simple bag but it all went together amazingly considering I winged the whole thing. Isn't it odd how some projects just fall in place, while others are like trying to get blood out of a stone. My DiL-to-be loved it!

I've got a remnant left, just about big enough to cover an A4 book...oooh, now there's an idea......

Crop day on Saturday - woohoo, my kitchen will be a hive of industry before then. I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone again!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx